Nothingness and Pain
by xiamei
Summary: What they dream of and why they fight. Seeming opposites, but parallel all the same.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Even if I dearly wish it to be, I am not in any way, form, or manner affiliated with Square. Unless you consider playing their games and worshipping their genius an affiliation.

Warnings: Ficlet during Math class. No beta. Sorry if it's bad. #sniff# First _ever _attempt at ff7 ficcage.**_  
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**_When he was a child, Cloud dreamt only one dream. And in those dreams, there was nothing._**

Everything was dark, desolate, deserted. For years on end, every night he'd sit there – feeling the wind blow in a hundred different directions; finding patterns where there were none.

There was only him and the wind.

There was no sun, no light. No trees, no sky, no stars. But it didn't matter. Because when he was here, everything faded away. No more pain, no more hurt, no more loneliness. He felt empty, but strangely content. He would never be bothered here. No one to taunt, to belittle him. No one to whisper harshly as he passes. No one to hit him. No one to let him down.

Everything was simply as it was – _nothing_.

Needless to say, he was very surprised when one night, as he dreamt; there was a strange white light where there used to be darkness.

He didn't like it. Not one bit. Why had it changed? Why couldn't he have simply been left alone? Will pain follow him, even now? _Why? Whywhywhywhy?_

As he bit his lip and breathed harshly from apprehension, the light enveloped him in hazy warmth.

_"We will not hurt you, precious one…"_

Cloud moved to sit and closed his eyes. The way he always did. But instead of feeling the wind flow around him; he felt a strange, comfortable warmth.

And he smiled.

_"Have you never wondered why it is empty here?"_

A contemplative silence, and then –

_"I used to. But no one could tell me the answer. So I stopped."_

For a moment, it felt as if someone was smoothing his hair – the way his mother did when he cried.

_"But now, we are here. And you shall know."_

Suddenly, the warmth disappeared. In its place was a strange, burning cold. And Cloud felt pain, saw pain. All around him, flowing around each other, were a million different times, a million different places. He saw them, heard them, felt them. He could smell – even taste – the suffering. Everything was different and yet the same. _Pain_.

And when he felt as if he could no longer breathe, that in those few brief moments he had seen everything he had _died_ – just like everything else – the emptiness returned.

And slowly, ever so slowly, the warmth crept back; cradling him in warmth, soothing all the _hurt_.

But Cloud would never forget.

_"So this… is because everything was destroyed?"_

_"Yes."_

There was a brief, questioning pause.

_"What you showed me… will it really happen?"_

_"Perhaps. If you wish it."_

_"…If I… wish it?"_

_"Yes. What you decide, what you wish to be. Only you can prevent the pain, and only you can allow it to happen."_

_"But… why? Why me?"_

_"Because, child. You are special."_

A furrow of brows.

_"Me? Special? I'm sorry, you must've gotten the wrong person, then. I'm Cloud. Cloud Strife. And I'm… worthless. Everyone says so…"_

The warmth flared for a moment, and Cloud wondered if it was frustrated to have spent so much time and effort on a little mistake like him. But it didn't disappear. Instead, he could feel the warmth wrap more protectively around him.

_"Not everyone, little Cloud. For us you are special. And soon, all of Gaia will realise that."_

The little blonde head tilted in confusion and doubt.

_"Well… if you say so."_

The soothing, warm, invisible hands were back.

_"Remember Cloud, everything we've shown you. Everything we've said. You are special – more than anyone can imagine."_

All too soon, Cloud felt the telltale tug that always preceded his waking. Slowly, everything began to fade; and somehow, Cloud knew it would be a long while before he met the strange light again.

As the last vestiges of warmth stubbornly clung to him, Cloud decided.

_"Well, if I am… if it's up to me… then I'd never let it happen."_

When he woke, the sunlight pouring gently into his room – Cloud could have sworn he felt a soft kiss on his forehead, the same way his mother always did before he slept.

_**And as the years trudged onwards, Cloud remained dreaming of the nothingness.**_

…**_And every time, he'd remember his promise, and awake with new resolve._**

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A/N: Please review. 

...please? Heheh.

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	2. Pain

Disclaimer: FF7 is so obviously not mine. Although I, like everyone else, wish I had rights to it... (sigh)

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When Sephiroth dreamed, there was always pain. For him, it was inescapable. In reality _and_ in not, there was only suffering.

For years and years, it was the same. Millions of different places, different times, different scenes… but in the end, everything coalesced into a single truth.

Pain. And he wanted for nothing except for it to stop.

And, one day… it happened. For a brief, magnificent moment, everything stopped.

All the pain disappeared, and in its place was nothingness.

The pain returned all to quickly; the reprieve couldn't have been for more than a few seconds – but those scant moments were _glorious._

And Sephiroth would never forget.

So he decided that one day, he will end the pain. He will make that nothingness _happen_, no matter what. Even if everyone and everything, for a few moments, had to share with the suffering he endured for his entire life.

**…All that mattered is reaching that moment of blessed emptiness.  
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_…And as he woke to the harsh sounds of training and war, Sephiroth could have sworn he heard a harsh, mad, laugh._

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I'm not sure if I managed to portray it right, but this is supposed to parallel Cloud's dream in the first part.

Please review!_  
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